Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Photo: Patrick Pleul
Several influential billionaires and supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump are calling for the abandonment of manned aircraft and tanks in favour of drones, arguing that unmanned technology can perform these functions more efficiently and cheaply. This was reported by Politico.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who heads an advisory group on optimising government spending, has become one of the main proponents of replacing manned fighter jets with drones. In a series of posts on the X platform, he stated that “manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones” and shared a video of Chinese drones, noting that some countries continue to build manned fighter jets, such as the F-35.
Another advocate of this approach, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, said on his podcast that “the country that wins the drone war will have the best army”. He also said that a former Special Forces officer told him that “with 40 men and drones, you can do almost any operation”.
Musk and Andriessen are part of a broader movement that supports the development of unmanned technologies in the defence sector. Under the Trump administration, there are plans to increase investment in the development of unmanned aerial and maritime vehicles. The Pentagon is already spending billions to develop new drones, including the Replicator programme, which aims to create thousands of low-cost drones for reconnaissance and combat missions.
Nevertheless, there are no plans to gradually decommission manned aircraft, and military experts are cautious about replacing traditional aviation with drones, noting the importance of maintaining a balance between technologies.
